Thinking of Mexico? Please read my experience. (very long)
I would like to preface this post by saying that I am not against the decision that individuals make. I simply wanted to put my experience out there for everyone to be able to search and find so they have the information that I did not. That information to sum up this post is that local Dr.'s will not help you if you have complications after coming home. Your only option is the ER and the financial and emotional repercussions of that. Below is my story, and the reason I have been MIA for the last two + months.
So my story begins with a co-worker getting a lap-band in Mexico by a Dr. that is a family friend. She bragged about how cheap and easy the surgery was and how skilled and kind the Dr was. I started to think that perhaps I could afford weight loss surgery, which I had wanted for years and thought I could never afford, so I started my research. My mother had bypass surgery a year or so before me so she turned me on to this site and some other resources. I began to go through the boards learning everything I could and finally decided on the VSG. I felt comfortable with my decision and was really not apprehensive at all about the surgery. I was even making jokes with the Dr.'s and nurses as I was going under.
My journey really begins the next day when I am released to go to my hotel. I was allowed to drink liquids but found that I did not have the need to sip and could drink as normal. This did not seem right to me and I began to get nervous that there was a leak. I am very glad that this Dr. used a drain because I had no other symptoms listed except that as I drank my drain filled up. I tested it throughout the night and by the next morning I was convinced I was leaking. I could fill my drain up at will by drinking enough water so I went back to the Dr. and was not in. I was assured by nurses that the liquid was normal and sent on my way. The Dr. though stopped by my hotel that night and I explained the details of the situation and he immediately knew it was a leak and had me go back that night for a second surgery to seal the leak.
The next week was horrible for me as I was only on a regular IV but forced to be in a nothing by mouth status. During this time though it looked as though my leak was gone and when I could finally drink I showed no symptoms for the few days they kept me and then allowed me to fly home. This was two weeks post-op at this point.
By the time I got home I was showing symptoms of a leak again. I had a fever and generally just felt sick and that something was not right. I thought maybe it was just the travel so I went home and rested. The next day I realized that something was wrong and I could not justify it any longer. I decided to go to an urgent care where they tried to diagnose the problem the best that they could. They found symptoms such as what is called a pleurisy which is when the tissue around your lungs starts to fill with liquids. The urgent care Dr. thought this was due to a lack of protein. I immediately started concentrating on this and the pleurisy seemed to go away. I asked the Dr. to please schedule an upper GI so I could make sure I was not leaking.
A few days later I went in to the facility to conduct my upper GI (barium is horrible!). All seemed to go well until they gave me a cup that looked similar to salt. They told me this would inflate my stomach so they could see it better. They however, did now account for my small stomach and so I was belching and almost throwing up, it was just horrible. Anyway I got past this and we continued on. The technician found was he called a "contained leak" he said that my stomach was leaking but that something was holding it in. I found out later that it was scar tissue that was barely hanging on after the second surgery that was holding liquid just outside of my stomach.
Now is where my real problem started and the reason I type this all out. Like I said above I went through this board and many other sites during my research phase. During that time I never found mention of the issues that can arise if you have complications after a surgery performed anywhere but by a surgeon you have local access to. You see other Dr.'s do not want to see you if you have been operated on by another Dr. They do not want to take the risk of being blamed for someone else’s mistake or for fixing someone else’s error. I called many bariatric surgeons and none would see me. My only option was to go to the emergency room. I spent a full day getting X-rayed and cat scanned before I was diagnosed with a leak. The hospital though did not have the right Dr.'s as my pleurisy had spread and I now had liquid around both the lungs and heart so they wanted a GI doctor as well as a cardiologist on hand in case I needed. Finally after 12 hours of searching they found a hospital that out of pity took my case. At one point I was told by a Dr. that if they could not find a hospital that would take me I may need to go back to Mexico!
So as I said above The Methodist hospital in Houston took me. It is a wonderful hospital and I highly recommend them. They put in stents and I was on a TPN which is basically food in a bag that goes in via IV. I was like this for a month with nothing by mouth. Thankfully though I was not thirsty as I was in Mexico with the TPN due to the amount of liquid I was getting. I did however, have hunger pains which were horrible. After the month went by I finally went back to the hospital and they removed the stents which were also very painful as I could feel them in me 24 hours a day.
If you get nothing else from this post please read this.
If you are considering an operation in Mexico please make sure you have a backup plan. Anyone on this board would agree that any Dr no matter how good they are have patients that can end up with complications such as a leak. If you do not make preparation in advance for how you will deal with these complications once you get home you will regret it. Thankfully I have insurance that covered most of the hospital expenses but if I hadn’t the bills that came in for the last two months in and out of the hospital was for over $150,000. Please keep this in mind when making your decisions as it does happen and if it happens to you how will this change your life if you do not have the insurance to cover that $150,000 just because you are trying to save a few thousand dollars in Mexico.
Do I regret the surgery? No, but I would do it locally if I knew then what I do now and just put the extra money on my credit card and paid it off over time. There are always options sometimes they are just not as pleasant like having a bigger bill you have to pay off over a few years.
I think your post is great..and definitely something people should keep in mind. 
Nothing worth having comes easy. Success comes with hard work and determination and sacrifice!
ROCK ON!
I'm so sorry you had to go through this.
People should really know that surgeons WILL NOT take over another surgeon's mess, regardless of where the first surgeon was located. There is too much liability (and ego) involved.
Food for thought for everyone when choosing a surgeon.
I feel very fortunate that I picked the doctor that I did. That is the exact reason I went to dr Jossart. Very few doctors have the experience and amazing track record that he has and I knew if I needed him again I could fly back up to San Francisco to see him. Thankfully my recovery has been very smooth.
Thanks for sharing this important info for other potential VSGrs
My heart goes out to you!
5'6"
Dr. Gregg Jossart
